Guy guard



Jan. 10, 1933. T. BIRKENMAIER GUY GUARD Filed March 16, 1931 m HHI I I H Patented Jan. 10, 1933 UEE 'E'TE F" THEODORE BIBKENMAIER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGIIOR TO V]. N. MATTHEWS CORPORATION, 015 ST. LOUIS, hEISSOUR-I, A CORPORATION OF I'v'fISSOUBI GUY GUARD Application filed March 16, 1931.

This invention relates to improved guards,

and with regard to more specific features, to guards for guy strand and the like, comprising an improvement on the United States patent application of Claude L. Matthews et al., Serial No. 502,342, filed December 15, 1980, Patent 1,805,251, dated May 12, 1231.

Among the several objects of the invention may be noted the provision of an improved guard adapted to prevent injury to that wh1ch might otheri ise come into contact with a guy strand or the like and be injured if the guard were not used; the provision of a device of the class described which is non-rotatable about the strand and which is tightly held thereto; the provision of a device of the class described which may be held in position by one nut and bolt at any of a plurality of points; and the provision of a device of the class described which is made of one piece which may be readily applied and is so designed that a. plurality can be nested to provide for low cost of shipment and which is economical to manufacture. Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the elements and combinations of elements, features of construction, and arrangement of.

parts which will be exemplified in the structures hereinafter described, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawing, in which is illustrated one of various possible embodiments of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of one form of the guy guard in position to be bolted to a. clamp ,of a guy strand;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the guard of Fig. 1 and showing the guard bolted to a clamp of the guy strand;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the guard of Fig. 1 but showing the guard clamped at a different point to said strand;

Fig. 4: is an end elevation of Figs. 2 and 3 but rotated ninety degrees;

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of a partof the guard showing guy gripping portions of the guard, with the strand therebetween, the

Serial No. 522,827.

guard being substantially ninety degrees ahead of the final positioning thereof;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, but showing the guy gripping portions at an angle with said strand, and showing said guy strand partially located in notches in said guy gripping portions Fig. 7 is similar to Fig. 6 but showing the strands engaged in said guy gripping portions; and,

Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail section taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 5.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawing.

The term guy strand in the present specification and claims is inclusive of strands adapted to function for all purposes and includes wire, rope and cable.

As stated in said application, above referred to, guy strand used to guy poles or the like to ground anchors and the like forms a source of danger to persons, animals, or objects moving about near it and accordingly should be shielded. The purpose is to make the presence of the guy wire or strand known to persons to prevent tripping and to prevent the catching and/or tearing of such things as may come into contact with the fastenings associated with the attachments between the strand and anchor rod or the like. It is difficult to shield these guys because, due to their small diameter, difliculty arises in clamping the shields to them. The shields so .clamped are usually either so loose that they slide or twist out of position, shake, and in general are unsatisfactory, or so involved, that their manufacturing expense and freight rates for delivery are prohibitive.

Said United States patent provided a guy guard formed in one piece, easily manufactured, shipped and installed and substantially immovably fastened to the guy strands, wire or the like. The present invention distinguishes over the above patent application in that certain guy gripping members and clamping portions are improved.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2 there is illustrated at numeral 1 a gu strand terminated at, and fastened to a guy rod 3, by a guy clamp 5. The guy rod 3 has an eye portion 7 formed thereon to receive the guy strand 1 in a looped position. The guy clamp 5 may be of any of various known types, but preferably has a base portion 9, and a top portion 11, each portion 9 and 11 having a plurality of holes therein, and when juxtaposed are adapted to receive bolts 13 for bolting said portion together, and a bolt 14, also for holding purposes and for further purposes hereinafter described. As shown at numeral 15, the loose end of the strand, after passing through the eye portion 7, and the clamp 5, is secured to the strand 1.

At numeral 17 is shown a guard installed on the guy strand 1 and the guy rod 3. The guard 17 is preferably, though not necessarily, formed from sheet metal such as galvanized iron or the like, and comprises a trough-shaped body portion 18, an eye portion 19 at one end, and guy gripping members 21 and 22 at the opposite end of said body portion. The body 18 also has formed therein, as shown at numeral 41, a depression having a fiat portion 45 and a hole 43 preferably centered in the flat portion 45.

As shown at numeral 19, the eye portion of the guard 17 is substantially fiat and extends appreciably beyond the body 18. Further, the hole or eye 20 formed in the eye portion 19 is elongated to provide an adjustable attachment.

The nestable trough-shaped body portion 18 may be of any shape such as parabolic, semi-circular, triangular, rectangular, or the like and may be of any convenient area. In the present invention it is in the form of a trough. The eye 20 is adapted to be slipped over and bolted to the clamp 5 by a bolt 13, as shown in Fig. 3, when the clamp 5 is in its clamped position.

The nestable feature is of importance, because it is possible to save in excess of twothirds of the volume otherwise consumed in a given weight in shipment. Thus the present device takes third class freight rate, instead of perhaps second class.

In the event that the guy rod 3 extends appreciably above the ground 4, the guy guard 17 may be secured to the guy strand as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. That is, the guard 17 may be fastened to the clamp 5 at the depression 41, by means of the center bolt 14 through the hole 43. As shown in Fig. 2 when the guard 17 is thus secured, the eye port on 19 terminates in or near the ground 4.

The guy gripping members 21 and 22 are spaced apart to freely accommodate the guy strand 1 when the body portion 18 is in substantially aright-angular position to the cable 1 (see Fig. 5). Notches 23, provided in the gripping members 21 and 22, are adapted to receive and engage the guy strand 1 when the body portion 18 is turned and longitudinally aligned with the guy strand 1, as shown in Figs. 1-4, 7 and 8. Moreover, as the guard is aligned with the guy strand, the center line of the notches is positioned so that the guy strand will finally be secured appreciably inside of the edges 49 of the guard (see Fig. 4). Flanged, turned-over edges 25 on the notch 23 of the member 21, and partof the notch of the member 22, provide a substantial and slidable contact between the cable 1 and the gripping members 21 and 22.

The upper edge of the notch 3 of the outer gripping member 22 has a movement limiting portion 47 extending from the member 22 and at substantially right angles there to, and toward the member 21. As shown more particularly in Fig. 8, the extension 47 serves to prevent the cable 1 from passing beyond the notches 23 of the members 21 and 22 when the guard 17, at right angles to the guy strand 1, is positioned to receive the guy strand 1 as shown in Fig. Thus the extension 47, aligns the guy 1 with the notches 23 as the guy 1 is positioned between the members 21 and 22.

During installation, the guy strand 1 passes through the eye portion 7 of the guy rod 3 and is secured thereto in a taut position by the guy clamp 51. The free end of the cable is secured as hereinbefore described and shown at numeral 15.

The guard 17 is now placed substantially at right angles to the cable 1 so that the space between the gripping members 21 and 22 receives the guy strand 1 (see Fig. 5 and Fig. 8). The portion 47 extending from the member 22 seats the strand 1 and aligns the cable 1 with the notches 23 so that as the body portion 18 is brought into alignment with the strand 1, the notches 23 receive the guy strand 1, and thus the guy gripping members 21 and 22 frictionally hold one end of the guy guard 17 to the strand 1. lVhen the body portion is finally brought into alignment with the strand 1, it is slidably moved along the strand 1 to permit the eye portion 19, or the depressed portion 41, to be juxtapositioned over the clamp 5, and secured thereto by the bolt 14. In the former application of the device, the depressed portion 41 as shown in Fig. 3 has no further use but is not objectionable. In the latter application, as shown in 2, the portion 41 is bolted to the clamp 5, and the eye portion 19 is termin ated in or near the ground 4.

It is to be understood that other means may be substituted for the gripping members 21 and 22 in connection with a guard having the fastening portions 19 and 41. It is further noted that the fastening portions 19 and 41 may be of any shape.

From the above description it will thus be seen that a guard has been provided for the guy wire 1 which is firmly held, on the guy wire, against any rotation or shaking in either of the positions shown in Figs. 2 or 3. Further, only one bolting operation is required to secure the guard 17 in place. Furthermore, an alternative fastening means has been provided in order that the type of guy rod used may be accommodated.

Another advantage is the movement limiting extension A? which permits of easy ap plication. The guard provided may be easily installed or removed and can be nested in quantity to save space in shipping and stor age. The depression 41 serves also to nest the nut 16 of bolt 14, thus eliminating said nut as a protrusion.

The positioning of the gripping members 21 and 22 at or near the upper end of the guard results in a desirable closure at said end, thereby preventing insertion of means between the guard and the guy at this point, which might result in tearing the guard from the guy.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As many changes could be made in carrying out the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A guy guard comprising atrough-shaped length of material adapted to be positioned around a clamped strand, a depression in said length having an opening therein and means for fastening said length to the strand clamp through said opening, said depression nesting said fastening means to prevent substantial protrusion thereof above the mean surface of said length of material, said depression being between the ends of said length, and a depressed tongue at one end of said length adapted to be held to a clamp by non-protruding means.

2. A guy guard comprising a troughshaped length of material adapted to be positioned around a clamped strand, a depression in said length having an opening therein and means for fastening said length to the strand clamp through said opening, said depression nesting said fastening means to prevent substantial protrusion thereof above the mean surface of said length of material, said depression being between the ends of said length, and a depressed tongue at one end of said length adapted to be held to a clamp by non-protruding means, said tongue and depression being useful alternatively for fastening purposes.

3. A guy guard comprising a guard portion, spaced gripping surfaces at one end thereof, adapted to receive a cable therebetween when the guard portion is positioned angularly with respect thereto, oppositely disposed notches in said surfaces for engaging the cable when said guard portion is turned substantially parallel thereto and movement limiting means associated with said notches for ensuring proper positioning of the cable for entry therein as the guards is applied to the cable.

4. A guy guard comprising a body portion, means substantially centered in said body portion for supporting said body portion, means at one end of said body portion for alternately supporting said body portion, means at the other end of said body portion adapted to engage a guy strand passing through said means, said second-named supporting means being terminable at the ground when the guy strand is supported by said firstnamed means.

5. A guard comprising a longitudinal body, at least one fastening means formed on said body, gripping means at an end of said body adapted to receive therebetween a length of guy strand when said body is positioned at substantially right angles to said strand, and notches in the gripping means adapted to receive said guy strand when said body is aligned with said strand length, and means between said gripping means for ali ning said guy strand with said notches when said body is positioned at an angle to the length of said guy strand.

6. A guy strand guard comprising a body portion, means formed on one end of said body portion for bolting said guard to a guy clamp, another means formed elsewhere on said body portion for bolting said body portion to a clamp, said bolting means being adapted to substantially cover the top of said guy clamp when bolted thereto, and gr pping means formed on said body portion for diregtly\engaging said guy strand.

1. A guy stiand comprislng a body portion, means formed on one end of said body portion for bolting said guard to a guy clamp, another means formed elsewhere on said body portion for bolting said body portion to a clamp, said bolting means being adapted to substantially cover the top of said guy clamp when bolted thereto, and gripping means formed on said body portion for directly engaging said guy strand, said first-named bolting means being adapted to be terminated in or at the ground when said secondnained means is bolted to said guy clamp.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification this l-lth day of March, 1931.

THEGDORE BIEKENMAIER. 

